At the Feb. 7 meeting, the Village of Burns Lake discussed the protective services operating budget for the year 2024.
General operations
Sashka Macievich, the Village of Burns Lake finance director, said the total general operations of the 2024 protective services were budgeted at $79,288, a 6.15 per cent increase from last year’s $74,693.
Rob Krause, Village of Burns Lake’s director of protective services, stated that $8,000 was recovered from BC Wildfire Services and Emergency Management in B.C. He said this was added to the 2023 budget, which was the difference between the actual 2022 and 2023 figures. He stated that this was charged for out-of-district emergency services.
“So last year, our recoveries were $130,000 above budget due to all our work outside the fire protection area. And the majority of that was for wildfire emergencies,” Krause said.
Mayor Henry Wiebe asked where the recoveries were added to the protective services’ reserves.
Macievich said that in the 2023 actual column, $102,598 had been transferred to the protective services’ reserves.
Krause stated that he spent the rest of it by purchasing additional pumps, bladders, hoses, sprinklers, and truck repairs, and the leftover was added to the reserves.
Training
The total protective services budget for training was $30,340, a 0.51 per cent increase from 2023’s $30,185 budget. Krause said that the contract services line was for training and takes place in Burns Lake.
The costs were for instructors, training program courses, travel expenses, and registration fees to send members for out-of-town training. “This year, we’ve booked firefighters to attend the B.C. volunteer training summit. We have also booked a women and fire training conference. My deputy and I are going to the B.C. fire chiefs training conference. And, we’re hoping to send aid to the wildland engine boss course this year out of that money,” Krause said.
Macievich said that the actual term budget for 2023 was lower. Therefore, she kept the budget similar for 2024 due to all the training programs.
Fire Force
The 2024 budget for fire force was $30,340, a 5.18 per cent increase from last year’s $30,185. Macievich said there was an increase in the fire force budget due to rising costs in salaries, insurance, materials and supplies.
Kristy Bjarnason, Village of Burns Lake councillor, asked how the salaries and other costs were allocated within the 2024 budget.
Krause answered that the fire department has a policy for this budget allocation. He said firefighters sometimes had to attend training courses on a working day. “If it’s one day, they get no wages and benefits. If they’re required to go to a course that takes place over two or more days of work, then we pay them the $100 per day for the remuneration of the missing work days.”
The Burns Lake Fire Department’s year-end report states that firefighters had put in 8000 additional hours, including the days they don’t get paid.
In total the Burns Lake Fire Department’s budget breaks down into several accounts which were general operations, training, fire force, communications, fire hall, fire equipment, emergency preparedness, wildfire mitigation, capital and other protective services.
At the end of the discussion, Mayor Wiebe said that the budget requires more discussion for probable adjustments, and council agreed.